Envelop.



No. 664,566. Patented Dec. 25, I900. I. F. LUNG.

EN VELOP.

(Application file'd July 1B. 1900 (No-Modem UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

IRWIN FRANKLIN LONG, OF AURORA, ILLINOIS.

ENVELQP.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 664,566, dated December 25, 1906.

' Application filed July 18, 1900.

To aZZ whmn it may concern:

Beit known that I, IRWIN FRANKLIN LONG, a citizen of the United States, residing at Aurora, in the county of Kane and State of Illinois, have invented a new and useful Envelop, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to a novel envelop and sealing means therefor.

One object of the invention is to produce an envelop equipped with a simple and inexpensive sealing device by means of which the sealing-flap may be sealed quickly and securely in a manner to combine the secure closure of first-class mail-matter with those characteristics which bring the seal within the requirements of the law relating to second-class mail matter, with the attendant reduction of postage of the latter.

A further object is to provide a seal which will obviate the necessity for the employment of gummed surfaces, the moistening of which with the tongue in the ordinary manner is not only inconvenient, but unhealthy.

To the accomplish ment of the objects stated, the invention consists in constructing an envelop with a pocket for the reception of the sealing-flap and with a locking member retained by a small metal plate fastened to the back flap of the envelop, said locking member being arranged to pass through the sealing-fiap and to be received within and retained by a hollow keeper or retaining-button mounted upon the inside flap of the envelop.

The invention consists in certain other details of construction and arrangement, all of which will appear more fully hereinafter.

In the accompanying drawings, in which I have illustrated the preferred form of my invention, Figure 1 is a rear or back view of the sealed envelop. Fig. 2 is a longitudinal section on the line 2 2 of Fig. 1, showing certain elements of the sealing device in elevation. Fig. 3 is a transverse sectional view on the line 3 3 of Fig. 1. Fig. 4 is an elevation of the envelop with the back flap turned back, and Fig. 5 is a view of the sealing device with its members disassociated and arranged in juxtaposition to illustrate their structural details.

Referring to the numerals of reference employed to designate corresponding parts in Serial No. 24,090. (No model.)

inner wall of a sealing-flap-receiving pocket,

it is comparatively narrow and has its lower portion cut away, as shown in Fig. 4. The end of the envelop front or body 2 below the inside flap 4 is provided with a narrow folded edge 6, and a similar narrow infolded edge 7 extends along the bottom of the body2 to facilitate the pasting of the back flap 5 when the latter is turned down to the position indicated in Fig. 2 of the drawings, it being understood that gum or other adhesive material is spread over the inturnededges 6 and 7 and upon the rear face of the flap 4:, adjacent to the lower edge of the latter.

It will be seen that the envelop constructed in the manner described is provided with a comparatively shallow inside pocket for the reception of the sealing-flap 3, the purpose of this arrangement being to insure the protection of the contents of the envelop and to prevent them from accidentally escaping under the sealing-flap at opposite sides of the sealing device, to be hereinafter described.

The sealing device which I have originated, with special reference to its simplicity of construction and security after assemblage, comprehends a light metal retaining-plate 8, provided with apairof openings 9 and having terminal tabs 10, designed to be passed through the back flap 5 and bent thereon or clenched to securely retain the plate in place. The openings 9 are designed for the accommodation of the legs 11 of the locking member, which is preferably formed by bending a piece of wire into approximately U shape, the extremities of the legs 11 being formed, respectively, with a compound recurve to produce oppositely-disposed locking-shoulders 12, extending laterally in opposite directions from the legs 11. The locking member, constructed as described, is designed to be received and retained within a keeper or button comprising a pair of convex disks or heads 13 and 14:, disposed against the opposite sides of the inside flap 4 directly opposite the 10- cation of, the locking member. 1 These disks .or heads 13 and 14: are placed against the flap 4, with their concave sides opposed thereto to form what is in effect a hollow button, and they are retained in place by peripheral tabs 15, extending from the disk or head 14, passed through the flap 4:, and bent over the periphery of the disk or head 13, as illustrated in Fig. at of the drawings. In direct apposition to the inner end of the locking member the head or disk 13 is provided with a slot 16, ohstructed at its center by what may be termed a spreader 17 of substantially wedge shape and preferably formed by bending a short strip of metal to form the V-shaped spreader and a pair of oppositely-extending securingstraps 18, the opposite ends of which are bent I around the edge of the disk 14.

' In operation the envelop is first filled and the sealing-flap 3 is folded into the pocket defined between the back and inside flaps, as shown in Fig. 3 of the drawings" Pressure is then applied to the locking member, causing the inner ends of its legs to pass into the keeper through the slot 16 and upon opposite sides of the spreader 17. Continued pressure will cause the ends of the locking member to be spread until the locking-shoulders 12 are presented behind the disk 13 beyond the opposite ends of the slot 16, in which position of the parts the sealing-flap which has been pierced by the locking member will be se- 1 curely retained in place or sealed.

From the foregoing it will be apparent that I have produced a novel envelop and sealing means therefor constructed and arranged in a manner to accomplish the objects hereinbeforestated; but while the present embodiment of the invention appears to be entirely eifective and altogether preferable I wish to reserve the right to change, modify, and vary the details of construction at will within the f';'-scope of the protection prayed.

scribed, com prising a locking member having What I claim is 1. The combination with an envelop comprising front, back and sealing flaps and an inside flap permanently attached to the inside of the back flap to form a pocket for the reception of the sealing-flap,ofa locking member permanently retained by the back flap and designed to extend through the sealingflap, and a keeper permanently retained upon the inside flap and designed to receive and retain the locking member.

2. A sealing device of the character deoppositely-disposed locking-shoulders formed upon its outer faces, a keeper arranged for the reception of the locking member, and a spreader arranged to pass into the locking member to spread the latter and thereby effeet the engagement of the locking-shoulders with the keeper.

3. In a sealing device of the character specified, the combination with a hollow keeper provided with an internal spreader, of alocking member comprising yielding legs provided with oppositely-disposed locking-shoulders removedfrom the ends of the legs and designed to be engaged'with the keeper by the spreading of said legs as the spreader is forced between them to eifect and maintain such engagement.

4. A sealing device of the character-specified, comprising a keeper composed of a pair of oppositely-con vexed disks, one of said disks being provided with aslot, a U-shaped locking member arranged .for reception within the keeper and provided with oppositely-disposed locking-shoulders, and a wedge-shaped spreader disposed to pass into the locking member to spread the legs and engage the shoulders with the walls of the keeper and to prevent the subsequent release of the latter.

5. A sealing device of the character specified comprising a hollow keeper composed of oppositely-convexed disks, one of said disks being slotted and the other provided with tabs for holding the disks in place, a wedge-shaped spreader within the keeper opposite the slot, and an approximately U shaped locking member having its legs provided with oppositely-disposed locking-shoulders designed for engagement with the slotted disk when the legs of the locking member are spread upon the introduction of said member to the interior of the keeper.

6. A keeper comprising a slotted convex disk, a second convex disk provided with peripheral tabs engaging the slotted disk, and a V-shaped spreader located within the keeper and provided with securing straps bent around the edge of one of the disks.

7. A sealing device of the character described comprisinga substantially U-shaped locking member having the extremities of its legs bent back upon said legs to form locking-shoulders removed from the ends thereof, and a hollow keeper designed for the reception of the locking member and provided with an internal'spreader designed to spread the legs of the locking member to present the shoulders thereof against the wall of the keeper.

8. A sealing device of the character described comprising an apertured retainingplate provided with securing-tabs, a substantially U-shaped locking member having its ends passed through the openings in the plate and formed, respectively, with a compound recurve to produce oppositely-disposed locking-shoulders removed from the ends of the legs, and a hollow keeper provided with an opening in one side and with a spreader located opposite the opening. 1

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own I have hereto affixed my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

IRWIN FRANKLIN LONG.

Witnesses:

J. H. BERGER, JOHN H. ROTH. 

